Canada

Posted on June 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Middle schools too disruptive for weak students, studies show
Brown, L.  The Star (10 June 2012)

The Toronto District School Board has decided to eliminate middle (sixth through eighth grade) and junior high (seventh and eighth grade) schools.  The decision is based on findings about the academic achievement of students who are educated in a school housing kindergarten through eighth grade:  “We know students who write the (province-wide) Grade 6 test at the same school they attended for Grade 3 do better than those who are now at a different school — especially in high-poverty areas,” said superintendent of research Roula Anastasakos.  (A recent report from the C.D. Howe Institute has also concluded that students who move to a middle or junior high school “underperform compared to similar students at other elementary schools.”)  Yet, some are concerned about the impact that eliminating middle and junior high schools has on weaker students.  “We’re finding huge negative effects in math and reading for students at the bottom half of the achievement ladder who go to middle schools,” warned University of Toronto economics professor Elizabeth Dhuey.  “We’re not sure why, but the worry is that at age 13 and 14 — often not a great time of life — to add a structural break at school can be bad for students who struggle.”

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England

Posted on June 11, 2012 by | 1 comment
On the money?
Vaughan, R.  Times Education (5 June 2012)

“Education providers have thrown their weight behind Michael Gove after he announced that free schools could be run for profit if the Conservatives secure a second term in office.”  Gove believes that schools could “move toward” a for-profit model.  While the for-profit model is unlikely under the current coalition, Gove said the quality of education would be “augmented by extending the range of people involved in its provisions.”  Although teacher unions have expressed outrage at Gove’s proposal, Sir David Bell, who had been education’s highest-ranking civil servant until this year, now supports the measure.  Bell “said that the profit motive should be trialled in some of the country’s most underperforming schools before it was rolled out elsewhere.”  Others, like Trevor Averre-Beeson, founder of Lilac Sky Schools, an approved academy sponsor that runs the management of two schools for profit and is to take over two more from September, support Gove’s proposal.  “It seems completely appropriate that if we do something successful, such as raising pupil attainment or getting a school out of special measures, we would get a bonus on a performance-related contract,” Mr. Averre-Beeson said. “And if we don’t, we would get a fine. I think it makes the running of schools more accountable.”  Supporting the measure for the profit motive in schools, a Times Education Supplement opinion piece reads, “So come on, Mr Gove. Make everyone happy. Stop being coy. Allow for-profit providers to run schools. You know it makes cents.”

Gove’s thoughts on a wide-range of educational issues, especially issues related to school privatization and accountability, are addressed in the following video from an oral evidence session for the UK’s Education Committee:

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The Netherlands

Posted on June 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Scholarships for teachers (in Dutch)
Ministry of Education (30 May 2012)

The Department of Education is providing scholarships to primary and secondary school teachers to undertake an undergraduate or graduate degree. Teachers can apply for a scholarship of €7,000/year to improve their level of education.  The Ministry of Education believes this will also improve the quality of teaching in the Netherlands.

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Germany

Posted on June 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment
New teacher salaries (in German)
Der Standard (25 May 2012)

Reform of the teacher service law will increase base salaries and provide extra pay to teachers who help with other school-related activities. The regular workload of a teacher will be increased from 20 to 22 teaching hours per week to 24 hours/week. Teachers in academic lower secondary schools will start with a higher salary (€ 2,420/month) than before (€2,223/month), but the salary will increase slower than it has to this point. Apart from extra pay for subjects like English, teachers can receive extra payment (from €90 to 450) if they take on additional tasks (e.g., student advisor, administrative tasks supporting the principal). Historically, teachers have not been compensated for this kind of work. However, it is still unclear how much money will be available for each school.  Although a 2008 study by the Economic Policy Institute found that Germany ranks second in the world for starting teacher salary as percentage of per capita GDP, improving compensation for teachers has been an important reform effort, as this article highlights about teacher salaries in Berlin.

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The Netherlands

Posted on June 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Academic primary school (in Dutch)
Council of Christian School Boards (30 May 2012)

One percent of Dutch primary schools have a status of “academic schools.” These schools have contracted with research departments to establish research activities in their schools which are cooperatively implemented by primary school teachers and researchers. The results of this research are expected to directly benefit the quality of teaching and learning in these schools, as the schools enrolled in the program share data with one another.  The Department of Education sponsors these activities as a means to improve the quality of elementary education.

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Austria

Posted on June 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Language training program to be extended (in German)
The Ministry of Education (25 May 2012)

Since the 2006-2007 school year, students with a first language other than German have participated in language training courses at school. These courses have been offered to groups of more than eight (8) students for eleven (11) hours per week. For this purpose, the Government has provided 440 posts, equivalent to 9,500 hours of work and costing €23.9 million (approx. $30 million). Because evaluations have indicated the program’s positive impact, the Austrian government will invest a further €47.8 million (approx. $60 million) in the project up to 2014.

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Germany

Posted on May 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Public school or private school? – Two educational researchers discuss (in German)
Otto, J & Spiewak, M.  Die Zeit (18 May 2012)

Two educational researchers, Heiner Barz and Manfred Weiß, are interviewed and discuss whether private schools create divisions in society or are pioneers of school reforms. The researchers, who have opposite opinions about private schools, argue about performance of pupils, PISA results comparing private and public schools, social equity, and school funding.  According to Weiß, “Private schools are not better when you consider the composition of the student body. Therefore, OECD has recently come to the conclusion that private schools are not the solution to raise the performance level of a country.”  But, Barz retorts:  “It’s not so simple. Schools must do more to teach than knowledge. Equally important is the school climate, cooperation with parents, the satisfaction of the students.”

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Singapore

Posted on May 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Five Days in a Learning Nation
Schleicher, A. Today (25 May 2012)

Andreas Schleicher sums up and distills lessons arising from his visit to schools and educational institutions in Singapore as a Visiting Professor.  According to Schleicher, “If I had to summarise what I learned in one sentence, this is a story about political coherence and leadership as well as alignment between policy and practice; about setting ambitious standards in everything you do; about focusing on building teacher and leadership capacity to deliver vision and strategy at the school level; and about a culture of continuous improvement and future orientation that benchmarks educational practices against the best in the world.”  But, according to Schleicher, Singapore can learn much from the rest of the world as well.  For example, Singapore could learn how to unleash greatness from Finland and overcome social disadvantage from Ontario, Canada.

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England

Posted on May 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Democracy at risk in education?
Merttens, R.  Open Democracy (28 May 2012)

Debate around English educational policy makers plans to adopt aspects of policy from Singapore, mostly due to Singapore’s continued and consistent performance in testing (especially Mathematics), abound.  Ruth Merttens, a professor of primary education and the Director of the Hamilton Trust, argues the importance of local and national context when looking to apply policy across borders and warns against the adoption of policy that undermine the strengths within the English approach to teaching and learning.  Regarding memorization, for example, she writes, “I and many others in education enthusiastically advocate both a greater emphasis on memorisation and rote-learning within the mathematics curriculum, and also for more time in the school day to be given to mathematics. However, we are aware that this focus on memory runs counter to prevailing cultural mores, where the need to ‘learn things by heart’ is increasingly diminished by the ubiquitous presence of hand-held and ever-accessible technology. Control of these cultural behaviours is not, alas, within the remit of schools.”

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Canada

Posted on May 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Response: Factors Behind The Success Of Ontario’s Schools — Part One and Part Two
Ferlazzo, L.  Education Week (21 May 2012 & 22 May 2012) 

What’s going on in Ontario’s schools?  Part One contains responses to this question from a teacher, an administrator, and two parent leaders; Part Two includes contributions from Professor Michael Fullan, a professor emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto and current special advisor to the premier and minister of education in Ontario, and readers.  Professor Fullan writes, “Unfortunately some countries in a hurry to address the issues get the solutions wrong.  I call these mistake ‘wrong drivers for whole system reform’.  Drivers are policy and strategy instruments designed to ’cause’ improvement in the system.  A wrong driver is one that does not work; a right driver is one that does produce improvement.  In our work on system reform we have been sorting out what drivers work and which ones do not.  This is our conclusion: excessive accountability, individualistic strategies designed to increase human capital, technology and ad hoc policy solutions waste valuable time and resources and often make matters worse.”  Other respondents point to support for teachers and involving students in the creation of assessments as reasons for the success of Ontario schools.

The following video provides an overview of some of the items discussed in Part One and Part Two of “Factors Behind The Success of Ontario’s Schools”:

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